Assistant DA refuses to testify about BAT van evidence

State judge will hear arguments from both sides on Monday

Prosecuting attorney Rachel Palmer walks out of the 185th District courtroom with the rest of her team Thursday. Palmer pleaded the Fifth Amendment when she was subpoenaed to testify about evidence gathered by HPD's breath alcohol testing vehicles.

Rachel Palmer, a high-ranking assistant Harris County district attorney who oversees the prosecution of hundreds of cases, stunned Houston's criminal courthouse on Thursday by pleading the Fifth Amendment instead of answering questions about evidence gathered by HPD's beleaguered breath alcohol testing vehicles.

For months, a grand jury has been investigating issues surrounding the Houston Police Department's BAT vans and possibly the DA's office's involvement.

On Thursday, Palmer was told she is not the target of that investigation when she was subpoenaed by the grand jury, according to court records.

She refused to answer questions, citing her constitutional rights, according to court records. It is unusual for a witness who is not being targeted to say that her answers could incriminate her.

Palmer's actions prompted the grand jury's special prosecutors to haul her before state District Judge Susan Brown and file a motion to compel her to testify.

Brown said she would hear arguments from both sides in a full hearing Monday. She could compel Palmer to answer specific questions the special prosecutors gave the judge.

Palmer's appearance in court Thursday attracted a crowd of defense attorneys, some of the grand jurors and reporters who watched the lawyers from both sides quietly discuss the case and talk about scheduling.

Quick decision sought

The judge said she wanted to make a decision as soon as possible so her grand jury, which meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays, could continue its investigation.

Those close to the case did not comment on Thursday's development, and the question that hung in the air during the proceedings was simple: Who is the target of the investigation?

Palmer, who has been with the office since 2003, was a division chief over the misdemeanor section that typically prosecutes the hundreds of driving while intoxicated cases in Harris County.

A few dozen of those cases could have been affected by allegations about the accuracy of the machines in the BAT vans that were raised this summer by a former HPD technical director named Amanda Culbertson.

Culbertson quit HPD, in part, because she had questions about the accuracy of the testing equipment.

Because grand jury proceedings are secret, their intentions are unclear, but Thursday's startling development may mean the grand jury believes prosecutors knew there were problems with evidence.

It is illegal for prosecutors to withhold evidence that may clear a defendant.

No pictures

After Thursday's hearing, grand jurors who were in the courtroom during the proceedings swarmed the judge and said Palmer's husband was taking pictures of them in court.

Brown called all of the participants back to question Palmer's attorneys, who said no photographs were taken. She told them to admonish everyone involved in the case that no grand juror pictures should be taken or disseminated, noting that defense attorneys asked Brown to close the courtroom for the proceedings.